Marguerite Cocktail

New and Improved Bartenders' Manual by Harry Johnson (1900, p.265) — Harry Johnson 1900

1. Add the fine-shaved ice, orange bitters, anisette, French vermouth, and Plymouth gin to a large bar glass.
2. Stir up well with a spoon.
3. Strain into a cocktail glass.
4. Add a cherry, squeeze lemon peel on top, and serve.

Garnish: Cherry, with lemon peel expressed on top

Ice: Fine-shaved ice

Nose

Anise and citrus sit over a dry gin-vermouth base, making the drink more perfumed than a minimalist martini line.

Palate

Marguerite is clearly part of the same late aperitif family as Turf and Tuxedo, but the anisette gives it a softer and more fragrant edge.

Finish

The finish is dry, faintly aniseed, and aromatic.

Summary

A perfumed vermouth-and-gin cocktail showing the diversification of the late aromatic canon.

Marguerite matters because it shows how quickly the late cocktail family diversified once vermouth and lighter gin styles took hold.

The anisette must remain a seasoning note. Too much would collapse the drink into liqueur rather than cocktail balance.

Daly's Bartenders' Encyclopedia by Tim Daly (1903, p.83)

1. Half fill a mixing glass with fine ice and add the orange bitters, orange curacoa, French vermouth, and Plymouth gin.
2. Stir well with a spoon, strain into a cocktail glass, twist a piece of lemon peel on top, and serve.

Garnish: Twisted lemon peel.

Ice: Fine ice

This is a useful early dry-style gin-vermouth checkpoint sitting beside Daly's Martini, Tuxedo, and Imperial lines.

The drink stays in a very tight stirred aromatic grammar with only a light curacoa accent.

The Gorham Cocktail Book by Gorham Mfg. Company (1905, p.32) — Gorham 1905

1. Stir the orange bitters, Plymouth gin, and French vermouth with fine ice.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass, place an olive in the bottom, and serve.

Garnish: Olive

Ice: Fine ice

Nose

Dry gin botanicals and orange bitters lift first.

Palate

This is a very useful pre-modern-classic checkpoint because it captures a dry gin-vermouth-olive line that sits beside Martini naming rather than under it.

Finish

The finish is dry, cool, and savory-citrus.

Summary

A dry Plymouth-and-vermouth aperitif from the early Martini-adjacent branch.

Louis' Mixed Drinks with Hints for the Care & Serving of Wines by Louis Muckensturm (1906, p.44)

1. Fill the mixing glass with ice, stir well, strain into a cocktail glass, and serve.

Ice: Ice

Jack's Manual by J. A. Grohusko (1908, p.45) — Grohusko 1908

1. Stir the orange bitters, Plymouth gin, French vermouth, and absinthe with cracked ice.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass and serve.

Ice: Cracked ice

Nose

Orange and absinthe lift over the cool gin.

Palate

This is a strong pre-war checkpoint because it shows the dry gin aperitif line still carrying a meaningful absinthe accent rather than flattening into later Martini simplicity.

Finish

The finish is cool, dry, and lightly anisic.

Summary

An absinthe-lifted Plymouth-gin aperitif from the Marguerite branch.

Jack's Manual by J. A. Grohusko (1910, p.64)

1. Stir the orange bitters, Plymouth gin, French vermouth, absinthe, and cracked ice well with a spoon.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass and serve.

Ice: Cracked ice

Recipes for Mixed Drinks by Hugo R. Ensslin (1917, p.25) — Ensslin 1917

1. Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice.
2. Strain and serve.

Garnish: Orange peel

Ice: Cracked ice

This matters because Ensslin preserves the Marguerite as a clear gin-vermouth pre-Martini branch rather than a tequila-era back-formation.

The orange-bitter and peel handling remain central to the drink's identity.

About Town Cocktail Book by Joe Fitchett (1925, p.19) — About Town 1925

1. Fill with ice, shake well, and strain into a cocktail glass.

Ice: Ice

This matters because it preserves a simple late Marguerite control point in a social source.